


Behind her Smile

by Speckleflower



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Needs a Hug, Angst with a Happy Ending, Evil Emilie Agreste, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth Redemption, Gen, Good Parent Gabriel Agreste, Poor Nathalie Sancoeur
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-06
Updated: 2020-11-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:48:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27415252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Speckleflower/pseuds/Speckleflower
Summary: Emilie hid a lot of darkness behind her pretty face and overflowing charisma. When Gabriel comes across her old diary, he learns a lot of unpleasant truths about her motivations and the extent of her manipulation of the entire family. After he sees that she has led him to become someone he doesn't like, he decides to make a change and move forward, only to realise Adrien and Nathalie have been waiting for him to catch up this whole time.
Relationships: Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth/Nathalie Sancoeur
Comments: 8
Kudos: 94
Collections: Miraculous Fanworks Anniversary 2020





	Behind her Smile

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ShadowMayura](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowMayura/gifts).



> Written for a prompt for the [ Miraculous Fanworks Discord Server](https://discord.gg/mlfanworks) anniversary giveaway!

Gabriel hated himself. He had just--he had just hurt his son. He had  _ yelled  _ at him. Many feelings had been heightened and his frustration had flared; the anger had passed fleetingly mere seconds after Adrien had fled, and Gabriel had let him. Thoughts churned inside his head like the traffic in the streets below as he resumed rummaging through the room he had shared with Emilie until last year, out of nothing but need to keep his hands busy, as if he could let go of what had just happened and move on. But he knew that was impossible. He had to apologise to Adrien. Yet he didn’t know how.

Inside a cabinet he had never opened--which had belonged to Emilie--he found something at the back. On closer inspection, he realised it was a box, and inside that was a bejewelled golden book. After carefully teasing open the inside cover, he read under his breath: “Diary of Emilie Agreste.” Eyes widening to find such a thing, he flicked to the first page. Would he perhaps find tales of Emilie’s life at school, secrets she had kept from him? He didn’t know, but it brought tears to his eyes to see the neat strokes of her elegant handwriting curling across the pages, knowing that once her porcelain hand had skimmed over this surface, envisioning her writing with her manuscript pen in his mind’s eye.

_ Dear Diary, _

_ It’s only my first day at this school, but let me tell you, everyone here adores me! I mean, it’s not like I expected anything else--mother always told me to keep my head high, smile, and know that I was better than anyone else. Honestly, what better guidance could there be? _

_ Ugh, everyone expects us to walk here, walk there, get this, get that--can’t someone else do it? Don’t you think I have better things to do--touch up my makeup, maybe? (Even though it’s already flawless as flawless can be!) Hmm… there’s this girl who slouches at the back of the classroom--slouches, I tell you! Bad posture won’t get you anywhere in life. Anyway, she looks pretty timid and gullible. I think her name is… Nathalie? I could probably get her to run around for me. I certainly don’t need to do all that. And homework? Pfft, such a waste! Where I’m going, no one will bat an eyelid whether I know how to solve the quadrilateral, or whatever it’s called. _

Gabriel stared, bringing a hand to run through his hair erratically. Emilie had never mentioned to him anything about her days at school, and had  _ never  _ said a word about Nathalie having been there with her. He turned the page with a sinking feeling in his heart.

_ Dear Diary, _

_ I am actually hysterical right now--I can’t believe the suck-up Nathalie still can’t get it into that dense head of hers that I don’t care for her in the slightest--I’m just using her! But no matter, I guess this just means that I’ll still have her under my thumb. My own personal slave, isn’t that nice. Well, I must sign off now, Nathalie should be done with my biology homework, and if she isn’t, then I’ll just take someone’s… necklace? Yeah, that would work. And put it in her bag. And then I’ll be the only one to stand up for her when she’s called out for theft, and she’ll worship me even more! _

_ Oh, I’m so clever, I really am too good for this world, don’t you agree? _

Gabriel was beginning to feel sick. He leafed through the next few pages of the diary, and all he saw was more evidence of the dark suspicion that was slowly forming in his mind. He shuddered, half of him begging it not to be true, the other half cold and accepting. His wife had not been the woman he thought he had married. That was all a facade covering her true identity. He didn’t know Emilie anymore. But had he ever? No. No, he hadn’t. And it was unravelling him. How could she have done things like this? At a glance down, he saw he had turned to a place after they had been married.

_ Dear Diary, _

_ Oh my God. That stupid girl Nathalie is going to work as Gabriel’s assistant. I don’t even know how to feel. Whatever, I’ll probably just make sure she either stays right out of my way, or does whatever I ask. Both are possible. _

_ I can’t believe Gabriel’s so blind, haha! How dumb can one be? Well, I guess he’ll never know I plan to leave him with no money while I sail away with everything I could ever ask for until it happens. That man is hopeless. _

_ Oh, and one thing! I’m pretty sure that… wait for it… Nathalie has a crush. On Gabriel, I’m dying ahahah, that stupid girl has no chance whatsoever. _

Gabriel froze. Nathalie… had a crush… on him? When? When Emilie was still there? Now?

Also, he wasn’t exactly saddened by Emilie calling him dumb; it was more the fact that he hadn’t known these had been her feelings. He really had been stupid not to see her real self. How could he have married this woman?

_ Dear Diary, _

_ Nathalie’s positively having a breakdown and I swear this is giving me fuel. Oops, it looks like  _ someone _ misordered all her files for the massive photoshoot tomorrow, and altered the schedule on the messages to all the employees. Gabriel’s going to be livid. But not with me, I’ll get off scot free! I’ll probably pretend to faint or something so we can go out and have a nice dinner while Nathalie cries in shame, begging not to be fired. But that wet sack Gabriel won’t fire her, he’s too sympathetic--not that the dumbass knows.  _

The memory of that day crept its way into Gabriel’s mind. He had been furious with Nathalie. But his hands balled into fists as he realised it was all Emilie. It had been Emilie all along. A tear of shame forced itself out of his eye and he gritted his teeth. This wasn’t over yet.

_ Dear Diary, _

_ I  _ hate _ babies. It’s not cute in any way, shape or form. Anyway, there was no way I’d let Gabriel name the thing I had to carry for nine fricking months, so it’s called Adrien. Well, I can’t bear its crying, so I just shoved him onto Nathalie while I claimed that I needed to ‘rest’, and what better place than the salon? (It was an amazing manicure, thank you for asking). The poor woman looked so helpless, ahaha! She won’t even ask to be paid extra for it; she’s scared of me, I bet. I can see it in her ugly rainwater eyes, she’s jealous of what I have--and she should be! She could never even dream of being as brilliant as I, Emilie Agreste. _

_ Actually, Adrien may be of some use… he’ll be a great model, because he gets his looks from me, the one and only! _

A tear made its way slowly down Gabriel’s face, and he didn’t wipe it away, instead leaving it to collect at his chin before deliberately dropping off. He was too shocked to move, and felt a rush of sympathy for Adrien. He hadn’t treated his son well at all, and now he knew Emilie hadn’t either. This made him feel terrible, the breath catching in his throat.

_ Dear Diary, _

_ Guess what. I found where Nathalie keeps her diary! All her petty little secrets. In a box inside her desk. I found it while doing some general snooping, for blackmail material or whatever. Well, I’ll be dealing with that soon! Nothing will ever come out. Or… I can just out her for what she is. A stupid, naive little girl all along. I’ll come up with something good, you can be sure of that! _

That was the last entry before she had died. By now, Gabriel was feeling almost relieved it had happened, so it hadn’t escalated to more than this. Although he didn’t know what could be worse than what she had done.

“My God...” Gabriel whispered. He knew Emilie hadn’t exactly been the most selfless type; he had thought this was due to her upbringing--which was significantly different to his-- but he didn’t know it had been like this. He didn’t know how to feel. He certainly felt betrayed, but he also felt astonished that he hadn’t noticed Emilie’s true motives. How blind had he been to not see how he was being used? Manipulated into a man he wasn’t. Except this was now him. And he realised that he didn’t like how he was. A cold father, distanced by his wife begging to take her out to expensive places when he should be playing with his son. A commanding boss, who snapped at anyone who made the slightest mistake, standards sharpened to a point by his wife’s firm hand.

And Nathalie. He didn’t even know how to begin to tell her what he had just found out. But he had to know more.

Two minutes later, Gabriel lifted the black leather journal from the box in Nathalie’s desk with trembling hands.

_ This is the diary of Nathalie Sancoeur. _

_ I wish I were more like Emilie. She’s so perfect. Top of the class without even trying. Beautiful from every angle, wonderful in any outfit. Charming and charismatic wearing any expression, especially that sickly sweet smile and puppy dog look that begs ‘Please let me off the homework’, or ‘I didn’t realise my foot was out that far, I’m so sorry he fell over it!’ Golden hair cascading down a curvy body. Adored by all. _

_ And I’m just me. Small, shy, Nathalie, sat at the back of the class, round glasses falling down my face, straggly dark wavy hair falling on my shoulders, scrawled designs all up my stick-like arms in black marker, tatted jacket that belonged to the father of my father on top of a faded red T-shirt. _

_ Invisible. _

_ I wish I were more like her. Then maybe people would see me. _

_ No you don’t,  _ Gabriel thought. Now that he had seen what she had been like. Truly.

_ She talked to me today. Emilie. She was strangely nice… I feel as if something’s not right. She commented on my drawings, saying they were beautiful, yet she threw my sketchbook in the mud just last week. If this isn’t double standards, I don’t know what is. There’s something behind that honey smile, but it’s so engaging--it’s like it’s drawing me in, and I can’t help but… adore her. Just like the rest of the world. You can tell, she’s going on to do things in the wide world after school. _

A finger that felt almost numb turned the page, shaking violently.

_ It’s getting worse. But no one else sees it. She blackmailed me. Forced me to do all her work, flash her the answers in tests while the teacher wasn’t looking. Sat next to me just for this purpose. Threaten me to do badly in my test, when I’d normally get full marks, just to make her look better. Just so she’d seem effortlessly smart. Laughing that tinkly laugh, checking her makeup in a pocket mirror while we all slave away revising for the biggest tests of our lives. _

_ And the whole time she’s been pretending to be my friend. _

_ I can’t stand for this. Except… I can’t speak up. I can’t say anything. She’ll make sure I get punished. And there’s no way I can escape her. The end of school exams are coming up, and it’s a lose-lose. If I do badly on purpose, I won’t get anywhere. If I do well, she’ll make sure it backfires in some way--hell, she doesn’t want me to succeed in any way, let alone outshine her. She’ll go dancing off to some acting company, earn ridiculous amounts of money, while I’ll be stuck. _

The next few pages of the book contained entries like this, but at a page which had the corner folded down for an unknown reason, Gabriel stopped.

_ She’s gone. She’s. Gone. _

_ You have no idea how good it feels. To be free of that bitch. Is it bad that I feel terrible calling her that, despite how she’s treated me? It was hammered into every grain of my mind that she was my heroine, my role model, and the part of me that was suppressed, that wanted help, that knew this was unhealthy, couldn’t do anything. But I can call her all I want now. Because she’s gone. Some swanky film company took one look and shipped her off to some expensive place. All that matters is I’ll never see her again. _

However, an entry a few weeks later proved this to be untrue, as well as the disheartened feeling Gabriel felt, knowing that the two had ended up together again.

_ Dear Diary, _

_ I’m struggling. I have no money, no family, no nothing. However, there is one job opening that is feasible. A position as an assistant. I feel as if I could do well in that job. But… there’s just one problem.  _ Her.  _ Emilie is the wife of the man I’ll be working for, Gabriel Agreste. She’s got a new name now, but she’ll never change. What else can I do though? I need to take this job. _

_ Dear Diary, _

_ She looked at me today. My first day working here at the Agreste mansion--of course she lives in a mansion-- for Gabriel Agreste, rising fashion designer, no doubt only because Emilie sponsored him a massive amount of money. I wonder if they’re even in love. She seems to be able to wrap him right around her finger. If she told him to die for her, I bet he would--she’s got him that bad, and she’s only in it for the fame. For the profit. That’s not what a marriage should be like. It should be loving, and beautiful. Too bad I’ll never get to experience that. _

That hit a little too close to home. After Emilie had died--due to her own selfishness, Gabriel might add, she had gripped his arm, stared into his eyes and  _ demanded  _ that he bring her back. And he had felt obligated to. But he guessed it was time to embrace it. He had been stupid to be so attached to her. He had been blind to how she had mistreated Nathalie, his faithful assistant. What had Emilie ever done for him? Nathalie had been there for him the whole time, even helping him, despite him being misguided. She had been there, and he valued her so much for it, although he hadn’t really informed her of this. Emilie had just been like a leech, basking in his fame. He had been so  _ stupid _ . So  _ wrong _ . There was almost no going back. He was certain they would hate him now. It wasn’t a change- even his own son despised him, he was sure.

What about Hawkmoth, and his mission? Oh God, the miraculouses. He didn’t want anything to do with them anymore, anything associated with Emilie. He couldn’t bring her back, he didn’t  _ want _ to bring her back.

He decided he would think more on that later. Right now he needed to go and see his son.

Gabriel walked into Adrien’s room on unsteady feet. Nathalie and his son were sat on the edge of his bed, and Adrien’s hands were on his face, tears streaming down his cheeks. Nathalie’s arms were around him.

As soon as he opened the door, they looked up in shock. Nathalie stood up, hands on Adrien’s shoulders, face growing angry. “Sir, you have gone too far. Look at what you’ve done to your son-”

Gabriel held his hand up, making her stop, and hung his head. He breathed in, and Nathalie looked confused. “Sir…?”

Gabriel walked forwards towards them and whispered, “I’m so sorry. To both of you. I was stupid. But I see it now. You don’t have to forgive me. But please, I ask it of you. I’d like to be a better man.” With a nod towards Adrien, “A better… father.”

Nathalie’s wide eyes turned teary, and Adrien’s eyes softened, a small sad smile developing on his face.

“Father… I’m sorry too. I behaved terribly towards you, when I didn’t realise what you were going through, how mother’s death was still affecting you, I shouldn’t have mentioned her.”

_ You have no idea to what extent,  _ Gabriel thought,  _ but that’s a story for another day. It will be told though. _

“Gabriel,” Nathalie murmured, and looking into her soft, sad, periwinkle eyes he saw her in a whole new light. “I’m glad you’ve finally moved on. That sentence was all you needed to say.”

He didn’t know what to say. This woman had stood with him through so much, and it came to him that she meant much more to him than Emilie ever had.

Gabriel didn’t know what else to do. He moved forwards, enveloping both Adrien and Nathalie in a fierce hug, and they returned it willingly. He felt rather than saw the tear of happiness that squeezed out of Adrien’s eye, and the smile on Nathalie’s face as she leaned into his shoulder. What he didn’t see was the mischievous grin that was plastered all over Adrien’s face as his son saw that Gabriel and Nathalie’s hands were  _ coincidentally _ overlapping.

It was the start of a new beginning.


End file.
